Influence of Surface Sealants on Color Stability of Composites Submitted to Aging

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the effects of accelerated artificial aging (AAA) on the color stability of composite resins following surface sealant (SS) application.
Methods: A total of 40 cylindrical composite resin discs of Esthet-X HD and TPH Spectra ST (Dentsply Sirona) were fabricated. After polymerization, the specimens were finished 320 SiC paper and was polished using disc-shaped Enhance and PoGo (Dentsply). Each composite group (n=20) were subdivided into 4 groups according to the surface sealants (n=5 per group): Permaseal (Ultradent), DuraFinish (Parkell), OptiGuard (Kerr Corp) and Control (No surface sealant). Specimens were placed in an incubator at 100% humidity and 37°C for 24 h prior to testing. Color measurements were recorded using a bench top spectrophotometer Ci7600 (X-Rite) with before and after accelerated artificial aging (SUNTEST XXL, Atlas Material Testing Technology). Means and standard deviations of color difference were calculated using CIELAB formula. The results were analyzed with the generalized linear model at a 0.05 level of significance. A color difference of E*=2.7 was used for interpretation of color differences.
Results: Two experimental groups showed E values below acceptability threshold (Esthet-X HD control and Esthet-X HD & DuraFinish) whereas all other groups showed higher E values exceeding the perceptibility threshold. Surface sealant (Optiguard) exhibited statistically significant highest color change (E) both composites (Esthet-X HD and TPH Spectra ST) (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Within limitations of this study, the use of surface sealants did not enhance color stability after artificial accelerated aging.